SMOG - Ytilaer

Once again, a work by Paul Ryan graces the cover of an album by the American singer-songwriter. This is a Callahan who – as we noted a month ago – hasn't stopped since his return to the scene. Here, then, is “Ytilaer”, out as ever on Drag City. The spelling of the title might hint at a change of course, a Callahan in an “upside-down” dimension, ready to leave behind the clear, realistic traits of his songwriting for a more dreamlike, symbolic turn. All the more so since, in the first single, “Coyotes”, he sings:

They say never wake a dreamer

Maybe that’s how we die

I realize now that dreams are real

The album then opens with “First Bird”, intent on professing over a faint female vocal breath: “Yeah, we’re coming out of dreams/ As we’re coming back to dreams”.

But thinking about it, this dreamlike dimension was already present in his recent work ("Shepherd's Welcome" and "Black Dog On The Beach" on the 2019 album). Callahan has further widened the scope of his gaze, putting together a kind of hypothetical trilogy in which "Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest" opens up his new life as a family man, "Gold Record" narrates the surrounding details ("The Mackenzies", "Protest Song"), and "Ytilaer" captures the dreams and more symbolic glimpses born from living inside that picture.

Musically the record is more arranged, structured and dynamic than its recent predecessors - just listen to "Naked Souls". In the lyrics - spare, inscribed, prone to repeating certain phrases, sung in that same unshakeable timbre - we find less everyday chronicle ("Bowevil"), despite the birth of his second daughter, whose presence we can glimpse in the lyrics of "Natural Information". An interesting aspect is the meta-songwriterly streak with which the Maryland artist hints at or directly addresses his own compositions ("Lily", "Everyway").

Closed out by "Last One At The Party", "Ytilaer" doesn't reach the heights of "Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest" and sits just below its predecessor: still, it shows how Bill Callahan, now on his nineteenth album, still knows exactly how to put together a record of pure, sound, inspired songwriting.

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16/10/2022